


a ray of beauty

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Community: 1-million-words, F/M, Fluff, Het, Rare Pair, Romance, Schmoop, established non canon relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 19:48:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10646826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: All Caitlin wants to do is get home.





	a ray of beauty

**Author's Note:**

> For the spring quotes weekend challenge
> 
> 4.Flowers... are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844

After three long days in STAR Labs, to say nothing of three short nights where sleep had been snatched on a lumpy foldout bed, Caitlin was glad to be home. Her bed beckoned to her like a siren's song and her only hope was that she might be able to resist it enough to have a long, hot shower. Food was at the very bottom of her priority list, because she was almost too hungry to eat, but if the worst came to the worst, she knew she had pizza pockets in her freezer. With those things done, she promised herself she would shut off her alarm, shut off her phone and sleep until she woke. 

Then she opened her front door. 

Straight away, a delicious scent assaulted her, one she recognised immediately as Grandma Esther's noodles. There was music playing low on the stereo and as she walked into the living room, in the dim lamplight she could see the cut glass vase that her mother - possibly her mother's assistant - had sent her and Ronnie as an engagement gift wasn't on the sideboard where it usually lived. Rather, it was in the middle of the coffee table and inside it was the biggest bunch of daffodils Caitlin had ever seen. 

A smile spread across her face as she walked to the table, dipping her head so that she could smell the flowers properly. Close up, she could see that there were at least three small bunches worth of flowers there, if not four, that they were crammed so tightly in the vase that there simply wasn't room for any more. Straightening up, she closed her eyes, feeling herself relax for the first time in days. 

With her eyes closed, she could concentrate on the sounds in the room so she wasn't surprised when a warm pair of hands landed on her hips, slid around her waist before pulling her back against an equally warm, nicely broad chest. "Surprise." Joe's voice rumbled low in her ear before he kissed her cheek then rested his chin on her shoulder. 

Turning her head, she opened her eyes and met his gaze, his smile making butterflies take flight in her stomach. "You didn't have to do all this..." 

"No." He was completely matter of fact. "But Barry's been keeping me up at date on the last few days." Because they hadn't seen one another since all the crap came down and that had been another thing that hadn't helped her mood. "I thought you needed something to cheer you up." He shrugged as he kissed her cheek again. "You like?" 

One of Caitlin's hands closed over his, the other reached out to the vase of daffodils. "They're my favourite flower," she murmured. 

"I know." He sounded very pleased with himself. "I also have your favourite wine chilling, Grandma Eather's noodles heating and a bath drawn... take your pick." 

It all sounded too good to be true and Caitlin closed her eyes again, sagged against him, trusting him to take her weight. "All the above." She was only half joking. "But I think the bath first." 

He let his hands fall, stepped back probably to let her go to the bathroom. Instead, she pivoted on one heel, wound her arms around his neck and kissed him like she'd been dreaming about kissing him for the last three days. He responded enthusiastically and when he pulled back, there was a lazy smile on his face as his hands moved down over her ass. 

"I don't suppose you want someone to wash your back?"

His voice was low, teasing. 

Hers was anything but 

"I was counting on it."


End file.
